Pray For the Boy Scouts

A couple of weeks ago I submitted this article for publication in the local newspaper here in Jamestown, New York:

Boy Scouts Bullied By Gay Activists

“The Boy Scouts of America choose to uphold traditional Christian moral values and they are facing criticism for doing so. A local scoutmaster refuses to award an openly gay teen scout the Eagle Award and is being bullied by gay activists to do so in violation of scouting regulations. Now why can’t gay activists just leave the Boy Scouts alone? Why must everyone think like they do? Because it’s really not just about civil rights, it’s about forcing everyone to accept the gay agenda and lifestyle. Gay marriage was never really all about gay people living and loving one another. It was really about forcing everyone into accepting their new and perverted definition of marriage. It was always about transforming society into their twisted values. The gay rights movement won’t be satisfied until everyone not only accepts their immoral lifestyle, but also affirms it. But this is exactly why the Boy Scouts and other private and religious groups shouldn’t give into these gay activist bullies. We shouldn’t be forced to affirm false values we don’t hold. For example, the Boy Scouts have repeatedly stated that homosexuality is incompatible with their definition of character building for boys; this is their conviction. Should they be forced to contradict their moral convictions to satisfy the political values of gay activists? No! Neither should churches be bullied by these same activists to affirm values that contradict the basic moral teachings of Christianity and the Bible. Isn’t it ironic that the same gay activists that will cry out against bullying in one context are engaged in the very same practice only in a different context? Let’s let the Boy Scouts be the Boy Scouts. Gay rights activists have overstepped their boundaries on this issue.”

It’s a sad thing to see one’s entire culture going down the drain; it’s really bad to see the effects it has on children and youth. I don’t think the facilitators of our cultural moral decline realize the devastating consequences they are perpetrating on younger members of society. The New Testament warns those who would lead children and youth astray — “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves,’” Luke 17:1-3. That’s a warning to everyone in all situations, but particularly those who are deliberately leading young people, like for example Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, into sin.

First, there’s the sad case of the Girl Scouts. Luke 17:1-3, “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.’” Girl Scout leaders had better pay attention to the words of Jesus warning against leading young girls astray into sin, because they are doing just that in respect to lesbianism. While the official Boy Scout organization in the United States is trying to figure out how to deal with the intense pressure they are receiving from gay activists to open up scouting to gays, the official Girl Scout organization in the U.S. has no problem with homosexuality and scouting. Girl Scouts have officially endorsed lesbian scouts and scout leaders within the organization – and they do so in direct violation of the words of Christ. Now this is even more alarming because often Girl Scouts meet in local churches and on church property. So not only are Girl Scout leaders corrupting the girls with the promotion of lesbianism, they are infecting area churches as well. Sadly enough, many so-called Christian churches are also promoting the gay lifestyle just as vigorously as gay activists. Shame on them; they should know better. The Bible is very clear in both the Old and New Testaments that homosexual activity is strictly forbidden by God. It’s classified as an abominable sin. Now there are sins of all degrees, and any sin of any size is bad enough; but homosexuality is particularly called an “abomination” in the Bible, meaning, it’s a sin that is underscored. “You shall not lie with a male as with a female. It is an abomination,” Leviticus 18:22. The Old Testament has nothing good to say about homosexuality, but it has plenty to say badly against it; the same with the New Testament. Now the truth is that because many Girl Scout troops meet in church facilities many of the girls join scouting through the church they attend. And then they learn in the Girl Scouts that there is nothing wrong with homosexual activity. They learn that lesbianism is totally acceptable, that their own scouting leaders could be lesbian and that’s ok, they learn scouts can also be lesbian and that’s ok also. So we see that there really is a problem of corruption taking place with Girl Scouts. In other words, it’s not just a matter of policy or official political statement, it’s actually a matter of influencing young girls to think and do something sinful and evil. Girl Scout leaders and parents who tolerate this will give account to God for their irresponsible and immoral attitudes and actions on this matter.

Second, there’s the sad case of the Boy Scouts. ” Luke 17:1-3, ‘Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.’” Now as of right now the Boy Scouts of America haven’t compromised their moral convictions and caved in to gay activist pressure against them to change their policy against homosexuality. But in Great Britain, the birthplace of scouting with Lord Baden Powell and the rich tradition of scouting there, they have compromised, they have given in to gay activists, and they have changed their policy to include homosexuality. In England, gay scout leaders and gay scouts are fully welcome and fully accepted. So overseas they lead young boys astray in direct violation of Christ’s command. One of the lines in the Boy Scout pledge is, “To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.” What could be clearer! “To keep myself morally straight!” Now granted, morally straight can mean a lot more than staying clear of immoral homosexual activity; it should include keeping morally straight in all areas. But it also means what it literally states, “To keep myself morally straight.” Straight is another term for heterosexual, as in opposite of homosexual. From the standpoint of Christian morality the Boy Scout position is the only morally sound position. It’s ridiculous to see scouts reciting the pledge and uttering the words, “To keep myself morally straight,” while at the same time affirming and promoting homosexuality. This is really a crisis for Christian parents who have always seen scouting as a positive and healthy influence in the life of their son. If the Boy Scouts compromise on this and allow troops to be led by homosexual scout leaders and admit openly gay homosexual scouts, Christian parents should pull their kids from scouting. Because once homosexuality is permitted in scouting, then homosexuality is promoted in scouting; just as it is in the Girl Scouts. Once an organization takes the position that the homosexual lifestyle is legitimate, then it must uphold that lifestyle against criticisms, and then it finds itself defending that immoral lifestyle. Now Boy Scouts haven’t officially compromised yet, but there is great pressure for them to do so right now. The word is there will probably be some compromise such as leaving the question up to each local troop whether to welcome and affirm homosexuality or not. We need to pray this doesn’t happen because moral issues can’t be treated like other political issues. Homosexuality is either wrong or it’s not; it’s either sin or it’s not. For Christians it’s a sin, as the Bible repeatedly teaches. Thus, no compromise can be tolerated. To permit homosexuality in scouting is to lead young boys into sin – and that the Bible says is unacceptable.

Third, we must pray for the Boy Scouts. Luke 17:1-3, ‘Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.’” So far Boy Scout leaders have resisted the tremendous political and social pressure to cave in to the demands of the gay activists. Not only that, now the President is pressuring scout leaders to open scouting up to officially welcoming and affirming gays by weighing in on the matter. President Obama has done more than any president before him in morally corrupting our nation. During the Clinton presidency we didn’t think it could get any worse, morally speaking, than his private affair with a White House intern, and his cover-up and rationalizing his behavior in order to avoid impeachment. That whole process corrupted an entire generation of young people who now have a ready excuse when anyone questions their immoral sexual practices – “It must not be so bad, even President Clinton did it and got away with it. He even got to keep his job.” But with President Obama we have something even worse. He’s the first president who has affirmed and promoted the homosexual lifestyle. He himself is not gay, but it’s probably safe to say that today he’s the biggest gay activist in the world, because with his position and influence he can lead people astray. Things started out bad soon after he became president – he told the gay community he’d do everything he could to promote their cause. Then things got worse last year when he came out in favor of gay marriage. He says that homosexual marriage is just as legitimate as traditional heterosexual marriage! Just by endorsing so-called gay marriage he’s leading thousands, if not millions of people in our country and throughout the world into sin. We don’t know, of course, how many children and young people he’s led astray in affirming the gay lifestyle, but we can guess it’s a large number. And he will have to give account to God Almighty for leading children astray! ‘Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin,’” Luke 17:1-2. As President, he didn’t have to take any kind of position on the issue. It would have been better if he had lived up to his self-professed Christianity and affirmed traditional, biblical Christian marriage. But he didn’t have to do even that; he could have simply withheld his opinion. But he didn’t. He went the other direction and positively affirmed the gay lifestyle and gay marriage. He has become a morally corrupting influence in our society. And now he’s putting pressure on scouting to become corrupt as well. We need to pray it resists the pressure.

I don’t know how the battle over the Boy Scouts will end up. I have a bad feeling that it will lead to some form of compromise, just like the news reports are saying. Scout leaders are supposedly talking about leaving it up to local troops to decide, like I mentioned before. These leaders are under a lot of pressure – socially, politically and economically. News reporters are mostly all on the side of the gay activists, so they report the story from an obvious bias in favor of affirming gays. Average citizens hear and see only what is reported, so they are influenced by biased reporting. It’s turned into a public relations nightmare for the Boy Scouts of America. It’s hard to see how they can hold out and stand firm on moral principle. But we need to pray that somehow the Lord God gives them the strength to hold on to the truth and resist the lies. Perhaps scouting can stand strong and hold on to what is right, good and true. I know one thing that if the Boy Scouts give in, and if they open up to the gay lifestyle, if I were a parent of a boy in scouting I’d yank my kid out immediately. I was once a boy scout myself. I believe in what the Boy Scouts are doing because I’ve seen kids mature and learn valuable life-lessons through the philosophy and activities of scouting. I benefited from the Boy Scouts and I’d hate to see it give way to the corrupting influences in society. Scouting needs to stand strong and stand for what good remains in our culture, not join in the moral slide of culture. Rejecting the gay lifestyle doesn’t mean that Boy Scouts have to be mean or hateful towards homosexuals. Gay activists claim that to not affirm homosexuality is unjust discrimination, meanness or hatefulness. But that’s wrong. Boy Scouts are taught to be respectful of the personhood of everyone, but that doesn’t mean accepting immoral activity, or affirming it, or worse yet, promoting it. Unfortunately, the Boy Scouts of America have become drawn into the cultural wars that have been going on for a few decades now in the United States. This is just one sign of an ongoing battle for the soul of our nation. Long-standing moral principles are under assault by our secular society. We shouldn’t be surprised that the cultural war has come to scouting. We should thank God that they’ve been able to hold out for so long, and we should pray for a supernatural miracle that they would be able to hold out longer. But if the Boy Scouts fall, as the Girl Scouts, as the Boys and Girls Club, and as 4-H has fallen, then we’d better be prepared to make other arrangements for the activity of our children – either in having them join better, existing organizations or forming new substitute organizations.

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

This entry was posted on February 4, 2013 at 8:53 pm and is filed under Apologetics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.